Chapter 33 – Homecoming

"Muhahaha!"

"No-"

"Da-"

During our quest for clearing the brown forest full of criminals, we've come across quite a few small camps since clearing the major one, all these have only contained several people each, all weak and not all that worth discussing really.

We came across another small bandit camp and I called dibs on this one, there's only seven or so low levelled bandits here so I've basically been playing with my pray.

(Ikarus) "Should be finished now"

Those two that just died were the last of this place, they tried fleeing but couldn't achieve such success. Trying to outrun a stream of fire isn't really a good strategy for retreating.

Now that everyone is dead, all three of my party members walk to where I've just destroyed the bandits and start searching about, Petra says something to me beforehand though.

"Now that you done with these, shall we continue searching for more?"

I was right about not saying anything, nothing has changed between us and she hasn't said anything so I might have been mistaken. If not, she clearly doesn't want to say anything so there's no issue here.

"Sure sure, let me just do something else first"

'Status'

[Name: Ikarus | Species: Phoenix | Level: 54]

[Health 14,899/15,000]

[Stamina 4,418/5,000]

[Magicka 3,652/5,000]

[You currently have 2000 unused points]

'Oh, I gained four more levels from that battle, those seven must have been really low then'

I probably should mention the elephant in the room as well, I lied a little bit. See, my health is so high right now, so high in fact I could live just over forty years with my curse still in effect. So, I decided it might be better to start investing elsewhere, forty years is more than enough time, right? I don't have any regrets though, even just adding that much magicka has already helped my sanity so much already, more flame equals more fun. More energy helps with the occasional drinking session as well.

[<Where does -user- wish to distribute points?>]

'Hmmm... where should I put them?... You know what, I'm going to save them for now, use them when needed'

[<Affirmative>]

It's definitely not because I'm undecided where to put them just yet, it's also not like they're going anywhere as well.

Let's go back to speaking to my party, they are currently looting the bandits I just roasted. I don't have to help looting since lack of arms and I'm the pack mule of the group, blame the storage ring.

In all honesty now, I'm getting a little bored of this. Hunting bandits is fun and all but I kinda want to go back to the curse search, I reckon my sanity can handle another bullshit non-fighting dungeon now.

"You know what, this camp took us close to a week to find, right? I think we've cleared out most the bandits in this forest now"

"There are still heathens about Ikarus-sama"

"Lotte has got a point, there still are bandits about"

Do these two really want to continue this then? Maybe they're enjoying the loot from all this, they are literally searching through corpses right now.

"Of course, of course. My point was, I've already gained more than enough EXP right now, continuing this is starting to get a little stale"

Sure, I could power level for much longer but can't forget, I'm basically a level two hundred and seventy now if compared to how many points humans get. I've managed to gain thirty levels during this little expedition, this should be more than enough to survive for the time being.

Another thing I can't forget, I can't level without kills. If I'm spending a long time not killing humans, then I'll basically be stuck as I am. That's a non-issue for now though, got more than enough time left not to worry.

(Nathan) "What are you thinking of doing next Ikarus then?"

Both those two have just stopped looting, only Petra is still looking through the dead now.

"In all honesty, resuming the search for my cure isn't the worst idea. Oh, I defo want to pop in and see my parents again, it's been over three months since I last saw them"

"Y-Your parents?"

Heh, I can't help but laugh at his misfortune towards dragons now, think I'm becoming a bit twisted.

Then Petra stops looting and joins back into our conversation with a damning statement.

"If you're wanting to meet your parents Ikarus, it's probably a good time that we call it quits"

Hang on, she wants to leave? Where has this come from?

"Wait! Why do you want to leave all of a sudden? Have we done something to piss you off?"

Both the two other party members looked a bit surprised from what she said as well, we were all kinda under the presumption she was enjoying herself in our group.

She can't help but give a slight laugh and smile at my stressed-out questioning though.

"Heh, it's nothing like that. You speaking has just reminded me I need to speak with my family; it's been a little while since I've checked in with them. I can always join you once again after we've had our family reunions, you really don't have to look so down about me leaving Ikarus"

Do I look down? No, no I definitely don't, right? Why am I even thinking about this, she's clearly just teasing me for the sake of it.

"Hey! Never underestimate the effect of having a drinking buddy, alright?"

"Heh, agreed"

At least that solves that then, I do need to go back to what I was just talking about beforehand though.

"Seriously though, what are we doing then? Should we call it quits and continue back on the quest after I've checked in with my parents?"

"The choice is yours Ikarus-sama"

"Okay t-then Ikarus, just a-allow me to prepare myself first"

I guess there not against the idea of finishing our hunt, was slightly worried priestess would not be able to give up her thirst for massacring bandits. I wanted to turn this dictatorship into a democracy but I guess that's not happening just yet, hehe.

"You really need to work on that stutter Nathan, we're only talking about dragons, not actually speaking with them yet"

"Still, it's the thought of t-them that doesn't help. I c-can withstand it though"

At least he's able to contain his stress around them, his stutter will probably never go. It is a traumatic event for him so I'm going to try not mentioning it again.

Now that we've finished with what we're doing now, we're about to leave when Petra gives some more bad news.

"It might be better for us to split ways now, my family kind of resides close to here"

I thought there were no friendly humans living out here, the only place I can think of is the desert continent towards the south but there's something in the way. I know she might not be a human but still, there isn't that much intelligent life out here.

"Wait, doesn't a river separate the continents?"

Oh, book worm Ikarus can actually provide some help here. The forest we are currently in is located extremely south in the continent of Sierra; I've already said that the continent below us is desert but it's actually separated by a long curving river.

Actually, thinking about it, nearly every known continent on any map in these fantasy lands is separated by water or mountains. My family's mountain range in particular is on the west side of the Sierran continent so we basically split two continents apart.

"There are several crossings scattered about if you follow the river for long enough"

I guess that explains it then, I bet the desert is an absolute horrible place to live in. Extreme cold is bad, sure, but at least with the cold, you can make yourself warm with clothing. For extreme heat, I very much doubt there is anything resembling air conditioning in this world to help. I guess you could use frost type water magic but it's not exactly like I'm able to do crap like that.

"It'll be a shame to see you leave Petra-sama"

"Yeah, your swordplay in particular has helped me out a lot"

Have these two grown to her as well? At least we've got the fourth spot on our party reserved in the future.

"What about you Ikarus? No closing words to end off our little trip together?"

She is such a wind up, it's a good thing I can see through her like a ghost. Okay that's a terrible comparison.

"If you think I'm sappy enough to be saying stuff like that, you've got the wrong bird"

"Heh, no need to be such a tsundere"

Wait, she actually understands that term? Damn it, I actually am going to miss her now. Of course, it had to be now she says something like that.

"I will miss you then, alright? I do have to ask something else though, where should we meet up again once we've met our families? I can't be having you stalking us to find out where we are again"

This actually gets a little chuckle out of all my party members, even the boring two.

"Heh, the capital should be alright, you're heading there anyway"

I haven't actually told her too much about the cure search, it wasn't really needed since she pretty much figured it out herself. Confidentiality basically has been thrown out the window with this woman since she seems to know everything that's going on without even needing to question it.

Seriously though, it's actually suspicious how much she knows about most things. I guess being old would help to that but still, her information seems endless. Maybe she has some means of getting information like the priestess, maybe her system voice does something like giving her extensive information? I'm just speculating though.

"Shouldn't that be obvious? I mean, where abouts in the capital specifically?"

"A bar perhaps?"

Of course, the priestess face pouts from that suggestion. It is a good suggestion and makes me giggle though.

"Hehe, erm... there's a bar called, I think it was called the winking eye. It was close to the red-light district; you can't miss it. We'll wait for you if we get there before you, don't be making me wait a month or two though"

I think that was the first bar I drunk at in the capital, we might have to unfortunately wait a while afterwards though, flight is a hell of a lot faster than travelling on foot.

"Fair enough, it won't take even half that time though, we'll meet up in the evening if possible. I'll speak to you all again in a little while"

Is she planning to take a wyvern back then? I guess she could get back fairly quickly if she doesn't stop for rest and things like that as well. Ah, who cares? What matters is that I don't have to be patient, that's what really matters.

Petra then gives us a slight wave while walking off into the trees, I don't give a response to her though.

"Bye Petra-sama!"

(Nathan) "See ya"

...

Now that she's gone, it's time to move forward. No point getting sad over the temporary party split.

"I can't wait to see how much bigger Minos has gotten"

__________

"Are you sure this is okay knight? I can drop you off at the cabin behind the mountain if you really don't want to do this"

"It's o-okay Ikarus, I'm here to protect you, I'll put my s-stress aside"

I'm just trying to be a bit more considerate for once. Even if I'm faking it, it's still better than nothing I suppose.

We're currently flying over our family's mountain range and it's taken just under two weeks to get here, I feel like travelling for two weeks seems to be a consistent thing now but I can't exactly help it when flying long distances in this continent seems to take roughly the same amount of time. Like usual, I could do it a lot quicker but I like my beauty sleep and not having to work eighteen-hour shifts flying.

In all honesty, all of us are slightly grumpy about something and just want to get inside as fast as possible, it's raining cats and dogs right now. It doesn't tend to rain that much in the daytime on this continent but of course, today is very much different. There is something else I need to speak about though.

"Priestess, try not to make any sudden movements once we enter and don't summon your blade"

I need to say this now to get my stress out, I'm worried about what might happen once we enter.

"Me and the Lord hold no disregard to dragons Ikarus-sama, I can act calm and collected. The one in the north attacked us first remember"

"That's not the reason, it hopefully should be fine though"

Father has already basically admitted he's afraid of the priestess. It's like how they say you should never corner a wolf; I dread to think what might happen if a dragon gets cornered in a cave by someone they deem a threat. Still, it should be alright, we've already had the prince and battlemage over, Charlotte may be more powerful but she is a hell of lot more likeable then those two.

We've been flying a little while longer and I can't help but notice something, why aren't my family noses working yet? Sniff me out and throw a welcome home party already!

"I'm honestly surprised we haven't been greeted yet, we're really clos-"

As soon as I say that, I see a huge brown figure come up from behind a different mountain. I exaggerate slightly, he's only grown roughly to the same size of me.

"Minos!"

"Cuuu!..."

Give him a minute... or a second to get closer, I'm checking his status.

'Status'

Before I even get the chance to look at his stats, he's already closed the distance between us and is rubbing himself all over me, keep in mind, he's doing this while we're both flapping our wings in the air in the pouring down rain.

"Mino- stop it! We're flying right now; it's pissing it down as well!"

"Cu..."

Gross, I haven't even gotten properly back and he's already started those damn sad cus again, little shitbag!

"Just wait until we get back into the cave, okay?"

"Cu!"

Both my remaining party members don't say anything but I presume they smiled at our reunion; Nathan was probably sweating as well from stress at the elephant sized brown dragon approaching us though.

As I start following Minos back to the cave, I can now get an actual look at his stats now.

[Name: Minos | Species: Dragon | Level: 43]

[Health 2,750/2,750]

[Stamina 4,815/5,250]

[Magicka 2,750/2,750]

I can't help but let out a visible grin, I'm much higher levelled then him. I know it's probably down to the fact our parents have restricted his hunting capabilities but still, I'm happy regardless.

Still, him being that level at the ripe old age of... I think... he's twenty months old now maybe? It's either that or a couple months older, perhaps? Thinking about it, I've forgotten my own birth date as well... Ah, my parents will probably know, I think. That's if I can remember to ask them though.

Aesa hasn't said anything to me so that means Minos is curse free for now, right? I said for now so it shouldn't be jinxing it, hopefully.

Both of us fly back to the entrance of home cave and I'm surprised our parents aren't waiting for us, something bad hasn't happened, has it? Heh, no chance, not to these freaks of nature at the very least.

Both me and Minos land by the entrance, I can't help but get extremely pissed off while I'm being greeted by the only other dragon in the cave.

<Ikarus!>

"Of course, the second we enter the cave, the rain stops. Fuc-"

Damn it, I had to stop myself from swearing. I nearly forgot about my mother. My moan was justified though, a slight rainbow has literally appeared now, why couldn't that have happened hours ago? Whichever God controls the weather is a complete bastard.

'Oh, I guess she was sleeping, that might be why she didn't smell me close by'

She gets up of the cave floor and rushes over to me but she has to stop herself from smothering me since I still have humans on my back, Minos as well rushes past us to shake himself down at the other side of the cave.

<You're soake- Ah, you've brought visitors>

She didn't even realize I had humans on my back, she must have been in really deep sleep then. Our family does seem to have this tendency of waking each other up, I prefer when I'm the one doing it though.

"I'm just dropping in for a little while, the humans are my travelling companions"

<Of course! I don't think one of them is human though>

She picked up that from her scent then? Dragon's clearly can tell, maybe father had a blocked nose that day?

"That would be me, greeting's Miss dragon-sama"

I can't help but smile at that, Miss dragon-sama. Why does she insist on the sama greeting for females but doesn't a different one for men? Maybe it could be related to the succubus in her, who the hell knows though.

<Please. call me Kellearzar, greetings to the both of you>

"I-it's a p-pleasure to meet y-you again Miss Kellearzar"

<The human who helped out our little Ikarus, how have you been?>

"I-I've been good Miss, y-you?"

I can't help but start getting pissed off at these lot, have some consideration for your pack mule, alright?

"Will you two get off my back already!? I need to shake like a dog right now, I'm soaked"

Both my party members jump down off my back and I purposely shake myself off getting everyone wet around me, mother is not best pleased. My party can't complain much since they were wet to begin with.

<Ikarus! Was that really necessary?>

"Hehe, did you really think I weren't going to do that if I had the chance? Where's father anyway?"

<Behind you>

I swear my heart stopped hearing his voice inside my head, how the hell did he get this close to the cave this quietly? He's still flying as well mind you; he can't land right now since we're in the way though. Even my party members didn't see he was there.

"Damn it! You stupid old lizard! Are you trying to kill your only daughter or something?"

<Looks like little one is still fearful, it would be boring if you had already grown up so quickly>

I've only just gotten back and I'm already having to deal with this type of crap, I love my family but damn, there really is no one normal on this continent, human or creature.

"Whatever... I'm going to join Minos in the nest to warm myself up, You two should join me, it's a hell of a lot more comfortable than the floor"

I'm of course talking to my party members.

"Okay Ikarus-sama"

"S-Sure"

<Good! You can tell me and your father what's happened up to this point, don't skip any details Ikarus! We want to know everything>

<Maybe skip some boring parts little one>

Urgh, this is going to be a long day, I can already tell.